A few of our favorite things: the editors point to 21 products that make their work easier

Home Office Computing, Dec, 1990 by Steve Chen, Crystal Waters, David Hallerman, Ted Stevenson, Lance Paavola, Bernadette Grey, Steve Morgenstern, Henry F. Beechhold, Edward P. Stevenson

--DAVID HALLERMAN

ROOM TO MOVE

Headroom ($130)

(MS-DOS program-switching software)

Helix Software; (718) 262-8787

Headroom, a program-switching package, has revolutionized the way I work by giving me easy access to all of my most important software tools. Moving from program to program requires no more effort than the touch of a key (or two).

I use five programs during my working day: XyWrite, Ventura Publisher, ProComm Plus, XTree Pro, and Reference File (a pop-up database). Headroom divides all the extended memory in any system into several predefined partitions, and can run a different application in each. When I get to my office in the morning, I turn on my computer and Headroom boots up automatically. As I switch to each of my memory partitions, Headroom loads the application that I have assigned to it--XyWrite in number one, ProComm in number two, and so on. From that point on, whenever I need to work in an application other than one I'm in, I tap the appropriate hot key and in the time it takes me to draw a breath, I'm there. The program I've left behind is frozen and the program I've moved to is active, just where I left it.

At this point I've given up trying to figure out how much time I've saved and frustration I've avoided. But it's more than that, really. I now benefit from a synergy among my software tools, which simply didn't exist before I found Headroom.

--EDWARD P. STEVENSON

VENTURA WITH WINDOWS--A GEM

Ventura Publisher ($895)

(MS-DOS desktop-publishing software)

Xerox; (619) 673-0172

In the great PageMaker/Ventura Publisher debate concerning high-end desktop-publishing programs for the PC, I come out squarely on the Ventura side. I find I can work faster with Ventura, with more accuracy and less tedious manual labor. (For a full review, see this month's Desktop Publishing department.)

In the past, the one count against Ventura was that it ran under the GEM graphic user interface, which gave it speedy execution but flew in the face of the widespread migration to Microsoft Windows. Lo and behold, 1990 brought us a Windows 3.0 version of Ventura. Now, Excel, Word for Windows, Corel Draw, and other Windows-based applications related to the desktop-publishing process are just a mouse-click away for Ventura users. Or if you prefer, you can run virtually identical versions of Ventura under GEM or OS/2 Presentation Manager.

Another rap against Ventura has been the notion that it's difficult to learn. Frankly, I don't buy it. This is powerful program with the technical capabilities required in a professional-quality tool; learning the fine points will inevitably take time. But once you master Ventura, your investment in the learning process is repaid many times over by the program's speed and automation.

--STEVE MORGENSTERN

ON THE AGENDA: ORDER OUT OF CHAOS

Lotus Agenda ($395)

(MS-DOS personal information manager)

Lotus; (617) 577-8500

Agenda is addictive. It grows on me as I use it more and more to organize my life and work.

Not quite a database, but more than an outliner, Agenda defies characterization. It's a tool that allows me to enter any sort of information (project plans, possible investments, and so on) just about any way I want to. Then, as my file grows, I can nudge data into categories, with Agenda's help. And I can view the same information from many angles.